DK Rides Again
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Posts posted by DK Rides Again
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Is there somebody on here who is mega technical? I am not sure that additional exhaust note, i.e. louder exhaust, means the bike will go faster! When the new exhausts were introduced they would have been tested and analysed to get the maximum performance with the minimum of noise. For a mechanic, rider or even engine tuner to think, the engine will perform better, if I take out a few of the internal parts of the silencer, to me, sounds far fetched. And if it is done, it probably only provides a psychological advantage and no real advantage. Noise will always sound faster. As SCB said..it is uniformed boll**ks! I think as someone pointed out, he meant uninformed boll**ks! Students! I would call it compliance boll**ks!
Making it louder is a by product of getting the gases out faster, so yes, in theory drilling holes in your baffles could make it faster; all you need is to be a tenth of a second quicker off the line and you're into the first corner first.
Some likened the new silencer to sticking a potato up the pipe, drilling a few holes is like shaving a chip off it first.
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How many of you remmeber King Cinder on BBC back in the 70's?
I have the chance of obtaining all six programmes (there was only six), I have the book and a copy of the script etc, so this will make a great addition.
Just wondered how many of you out there remembered the programme which was filmed at Rye House.
I remember it well Ken, but for many years, outside of speedway, it was almost totally forgotten, to the point where I was starting to convince myself I must've dreamt it!
With the invention of the internet and specialist nostalgia websites, it's started to become known again, but it seems to be most famous for it's appalling continuity in the final scenes.
They used a clip of it on the Blue Peter episode that first featured Peter Duncan, by way of introducing him as the new 'daredevil'.
AFAIK, it was never repeated and has never been 'officially' released, so Rob's right, if you get all 6 episodes, Auntie might be interested.
I'd love to see it again.
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So what's Pip's story?
I can remember him riding second halves at Wimbledon (maybe 72 or 73) and entertaining the crowd with the odd startline flip or first bend wipeout, then he does what amounts to a full season at Long Eaton, gets a respectable average and promptly disappears.............
I'm tempted to ask about one of his partners in crime, but I've had no success on here so far; Rocky Coutts anyone..............?
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I enjoyed every second of it. I was the one who ages ago started a thread predicting that this season's series would be one of best ever.
It's just that i suggest to many non speedway fans to watch the SGP (and on the whole even the normal weekly speedway has been very good on Sky this year) but they get very confused when the commentators repeatedly make a statement only to (usually without apology or admission) totally turn it on it's head. Many scratched heads ensue.
If they've got any sense, they'll learn to see it for what it is, a show, an entertainment.
Speedway never started as a sport, it was a spectacle, an opportunist businessman's way of attracting a paying audience, and nothing much has changed; it didn't stand government scrutiny as a sport in the fifties, when it became subject to entertainment tax, and it doesn't stand scrutiny today.
If, for example, it started to properly enforce it's regulations (and didn't change them when it felt like it) it might start to be taken seriously; as things are, one of speedway's biggest problems is that nobody really knows what it is, an entertainment masquerading as a sport, or a sport that's trying too hard to be entertaining (although I think most sensible people would say it's much nearer the former than the latter).
I think the Sky viewing figures Vs the live attendances show, very clearly, that things like overly zealous presenters and stats that leave you guessing, just add to the pantomime nature of it all.
So I say, keep the dodgy stattos and shouty commentators, at this point, it's the best chance speedway has of surviving.
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Nice to see Norman getting a mention, but I'm sure that it will come as a great surprise to him that he's a "biking expert" and also that he used to clean Frank Hodgson's bikes, pre war; you're wearing well Norm, I would never have guessed you were that old!
I was also interested to read that the Dagenham management either resolved the twin issues of unreliability and 'in flight' refuelling, or invented true perpetual motion, since they apparently rode with "no breaks".
Has the 'proof reader' become extinct?
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I used to work with someone called 'van Praag' (we used to call her 'van Prang', cos she was always smashing up her company car!
) but I never thought to ask her if she was related.I wonder how common 'van Praag' is, as a surname.
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Except over here, they're probably more like a toonie than a loonie, they definitely know how to charge for a coffee in dear old Blighty!
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Thanks DK rides again-enjoyed these interesting posts-will buy you a Tim's double double for about a loonie next time you're in Canada!!!!!!!!!!!That's a very kind offer Bob, but how did you know I like my coffee with extra cream and sugar?
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You are correct. A 'charva' in the provence of Geordieland is usually female, used to be adorned in everything Burberry but now predominently in anything pink, large earings and excess jewellery, hair drawn back severely back off the face into a ponytail, never worked, chews all the time, swears like it's normal, smokes heavy and likes a drink and is always on the mobile.
BTW the bairn that she is pushing is also dressed like her and is in the best pushchair that the benefits office can provide. Thinks Tories are a waste of space.
I'm glad you can confirm that the word exists, but the implication is that it was around long before the person you describe.
So is there an ancient charva?
Had to laugh at Croydon Facelift-think I'll get one myself- a Canadian word that I think is unique to us is "chesterfield" meaning sofa or settee(latter of Indian origin)-so a Canadian chav might say"I m going to watch telly , have a beer and crisps and lie on the chesterfield"!!!!Not unique at all, but an interesting change of use; here, a Chesterfield is a very specific type of sofa, deeply buttoned leather with a roll top.
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Edit:wouldn't believe everything you read on WikepediaI rarely do, I normally prefer my collection of dictionaries and etymologies, although Wiki often links to some of these.
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Thanx to everybody for answering this I found it very interesting and informative. Having left UK in 1968 it is interesting how the language changes-new words come in-others change meaning. One that is unique to UK is "chav"-no Canadian would know what that meant- I think I understand the meaning -anyone know when it became current and who first introduced it. I think one of the strengths of the English language is its flexibility-rules change-for example who now bothers with the correct usage of "who and whom" which was drummed into us(I've long since forgotten the rule and now it doesn't matter).It's probably got it's roots in a choice of Romani words, 'chavi' meaning child, 'chavo' meaning boy and 'chavvy' meaning youth.
Apparently, there's a Geordie slang term, 'charva' meaning a rough child and it's likely that is where it enters our language, but nobody knows for certain.
The first group of people I heard it refer to, were the youth of the Medway towns, mainly Chatham (they were also refered to by some less than complimentary terms involving Gypsies, so there's that Romani influence again); I lived and worked near that area from the late 90s and it was in fairly common usage then, by the mid 2000s it was everywhere.
I also love the way English evolves, although I'm not too impressed with the introduction of text speak into written word, that's not evolution, just laziness.
Hope that helps M8
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The emblem which is a man's cartoon face with his nose and hands sticking over a wall- I think it is something to do with the phrase "kilroy was here" which I think originated in World War One. Is that right?? also why the word "chad" is that something to do with the man. Can someone enlighten me on this.??This is one of those things that has a few possible origins, but the most popular one is that it originated in America during WWII.
The story goes that there was shipyard inspector called Kilroy and his job was to count rivets, because the riveters got paid by the piece; the riveters would leave a chalk mark where they had finished and Kilroy would write the famous phrase to show that he had noted it.
The saying spread wherever American servicemen went (they would scribble it on barrack room walls, etc) and it became a Worldwide thing.
The cartoon was a separate thing and nobody knows when the two merged, but it could've been during the Korean war.
What is known is that he has a different name, depending on where you are; he's Chad in the UK, Mr Foo in Australia and I believe there was even a Canadian version, known as Herbie.
I can tell you that Chad was once a popular shortening of Charles over here, which was later replaced by Chas; I think it's still Chad in the US.
Edit: having read what Knowle wrote and being a complete anorak(!) I had to look it up; again, nobody really knows the origin of the cartoon (but it could be from a cartoonist called Chatterton, who signed himself 'Chat') but it sprung up during rationing and was associated with the phrase 'What, no bread/meat/eggs, etc'.
As rationing disappeared, 'What, no.......' also disappeared, to be replaced with 'Kilroy....'; given when Liverpool started, it's more than likely that 'What no speedway' would've struck a chord, but Kilroy and Chad became inextricably linked not long after.
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This is the first I have seen of all this, and whilst I cannot comment on the rights or wrongs of what Andy has done, it is not my place to do so! What really p's me off the press release which ends with stating his address, why do the press find it so damn necessary to do this? can they not just say Galvin of Whitstable, Kent without naming the road too?It bugs me every time I read these things in the local paper and they state where the accused lives, even before the trial they do it!
OK, end of mini rant now! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
It's a legal protection thing.
Just to use the name in this case as an example, if the other Andy Galvin that lives in a completely different part of Whitstable (or in the next street) suddenly discovers he's being shunned by the rest of society, from the other parents at his kid's school to the bloke behind the counter at the off licence, under libel and defamation laws, he can (potentially) sue the paper that didn't properly distinguish him from the Andy Galvin that has been accused of heinous crimes.
That's why they are often very specific about a defendant's address.
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A few years ago a plague was put up in the shopping centre that was built on Rayleigh Speedway. I understand that the plaque has now been removed.Perhaps the shopping centre managements don't want to be reminded that their estate killed-off somewhere that a lot of people enjoyed?
Either way they've handled the situation appallingly but what do you expect from big business?
Rob McCaffery.
I'm not surprised they got the hump, BOGOF is one thing, but when the 'get one free' is an underarm bubo and impending death, that's something else again.........................
Sorry Rob, I couldn't resist
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I'm not sure if I have missed something or not, but the video that I saw started just as the unfortunate Raniszewski was spearing towards the concrete stairs, and had the other rider already almost on the floor outside him.As I say, maybe you have seen some video footage that I didn't see, but nothing that I have seen necessarily contradicts what was written about that horrible crash...
As I said in an earlier post, I have seen footage that starts earlier in the incident (if I could find it, I'd post it) and it does look as though Raniszewski interferes, in some way, with the rider behind him and on his outside.
It isn't clear if the other rider has had his front wheel taken away, or has lost control in an effort to take evasive action, but he is completely out of control and the description of 'being thrown against the wall' applies far more to him; meanwhile, Raniszewski is heading straight to the scene of the accident, sitting up and under power, which is why......................
I had been thinking of that scenario which would explain a lot............I suggested a stuck throttle.
There have been plenty of instances where people have been prepared to give up their lives in pursuit of the common good, but a speedway match doesn't seem like a good enough reason, whichever way you cut it.
I'd rather go with the idea that Zbigniew didn't really fancy it, but gave it a go because he was going to the track again in a WC qualifier; then outside events overtook him, with the most tragic consequences.
On the other hand, the results show he wasn't exactly pulling up any trees at that meeting, so perhaps he was just trying too hard and took out another rider, on the way to paying the ultimate price.
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STEFAN KUBIAK WROTE FOR SPEEDWAY STAR (Now edited):At the 13th heat the score was 45-38. In the next race, heat 14, Krzesinski overturned and suffered serious contusions (head injuries).
In heat 15, Raniszewski and Kapala from the Polish team and Bishop and Sidlo from the Austrian team were the starters. Kapala reached the first bend with Bishop close alongside. Behind them and a little in front of Raniszewski was Sidlo. Coming into the straight, Sidlo fell in front of Raniszewski, who was thrown against the wall of the track (ie the staircase).
Note: Further evidence is that Sidlo replaced Seidl in this race.
Regardless of who was riding, none of that statement appears to be true, going by the video evidence.
The film shows that the other rider involved was behind Raniszewski at every point and that, far from being 'thrown against the wall', Raniszewski went into it under power, which is the strangest part for me.
At no point does he attempt any kind of evasive action, he even ducks his head at the very last moment, almost as if he didn't realise what was happening.
I'm wondering if he was so preoccupied with trying to control his bike, that he totally lost his orientation with the track; could his throttle have stuck open?
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I've seen a slightly longer version of this film (I can't find it now, it was possibly on the tbkflame site, which has been dead for some time) and, crucially, it starts a few frames earlier.
It didn't show the start of the accident, but it seemed to bear out the theory that Raniszewski cut across the rider behind him, causing that rider to lose control; you can't tell what caused the touch, but it looks consistent with Raniszewski either running very wide or straightening up, then he winds on the throttle to try and gather it all up and runs out of room.
The other thing that becomes clearer is that the stairs aren't on the track, they're on some sort of perimeter area, although it doesn't seem to be very wide; perhaps the change of surface didn't help, as it looks to be concrete or tarmac.
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Obscure question of the year for 2010 (yes, this early in the year!!).Can those of you who frequented the old Hyde Rd. track and, perhaps, the adjacent Zoological Gardens and fairground recall if, in the latter, there was ever a ride called the 'Speedway'...?
There's reference to it in a Smiths song... If that's any kind of adequate explanation!!
You must be talking about 'Rusholme Ruffians', as opposed to 'Speedway', which doesn't even have the word 'speedway' in the lyrics.
I think it's very likely that Hyde Road would've had a 'speedway'; it's a shortlived generic term for that type of roundabout that features fixed, sit on rides and 4 or 5 humps.
They started out as 'Noah's Arks', when the rides were animals, then they changed to motorbikes, to exploit the then new sport; they also went through a stage of being called 'Ben Hurs', when the rides were chariots and horses.
The waltzer is a direct descendant.
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I am no programme collector either but are we talking about; 'The Police Team'? DK as you know, I have a few pics of them racing at Mildenhall and some little stories from Vaclav Verner. Spot on with the years tho mate
.I'm not sure what you mean by 'The Police Team' Jim, but there's a foggy memory about the team only being allowed out of Czechoslovakia on a limited licence, such were the restrictions of it being an Iron Curtain country; it was a quick buzz round a few tracks, then back to the homeland after a few weeks.
Is that it?
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I only saw them once and I don't remember much about the meeting, except they systematically took apart Milton Keynes, at the Groveway.
I don't recall the score (and I'm no programme collector) but I'm pretty certain the Red Star team included Jiri Stancl and the Knights were no match for them, they suffered a fairly hefty defeat; would've been 79 or 80, or somewhere around there.
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Yes,i look forward to reading "Hitler,not such a bad bloke after all" or the one on the Kray twins "What a couple of lovely lads,always nice to their Gran".But i do wonder what sort of de-sensitized society we now live in when someone can kill another person and a third persons opinion of the killer isn't altered by this horrific event.So these comments were not in any way designed to convey your opinion that the whole of Kenny Carter's existance should be clouded by what happened, and that anyone that thinks differently is wrong?
As for my right to be a member of this forum, I have no need to justify myself to you but, since you brought it up, I regularly attended meetings from 1969 until some point in the early 80s, then I went to a couple in the 90s and, most recently, was a regular at Lakeside for a couple of seasons; since then, I've confined my watching to TV, mainly because work commitments have made it difficult to attend my prefered track and so I keep in touch by reading stuff on here and various club forums and websites.
So put your troll detector away, it's broken.
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Actually there were two posts deleted before rmc settled on this,the third try.The first one was ....well he deleted it,so it is best not to comment on deleted posts i think
But i do wonder what sort of de-sensitized society we now live in when someone can kill another person and a third persons opinion of the killer isn't altered by this horrific event.
Perhaps some of us, me included, prefer a society where we're allowed to make up our own minds, based on something more informed than just leaping to an obvious conclusion, and then not to be pilloried for having a view which differs from someone else's.
I know that some people do bad things because they're intrinsically bad people, but I also know that some people do bad things when, for example, the balance of their mind is disturbed, despite it being out of character for them; since I haven't read the book, nor did I know Kenny Carter personally, I'm in no position to judge what caused him to do what he did, so I won't.
What I will do is defend my right, and anyone else's, to not be pressganged into believing the worst about him, just because someone thinks that is the only correct path.
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Comment deleted - life's too short to try to sort a mess like this out.Rob McCaffery
I read your original comment and it's not about that, nor is it difficult to work out that it's about human nature and curiosity.
Let's assume, for a moment, that instead of doing what he did, Carter had sent out a press release saying that he was retiring from speedway, with immediate effect, and that he wanted nothing more to do with the sport; his career would've ended at the same point and, although not quite as dramatic, the end would've provoked some questions, for maybe a couple of years.
After that, you would be left with records that show he didn't win very much and some anecdotal evidence that he was, at best, enigmatic and somewhat mercurial, at worst, a bit of an arrogant twit that wasn't as good as he would want us to believe; doesn't sound like the basis of a good book.
The fact that his career ended as it did, is the enduring and thought provoking part; it's the thing that makes everyone wonder what demons he faced, what mental barriers he was trying to overcome and did those barriers and demons explain why he blew so hot and cold on the track.
It's not about condoning murder, it's about the same curiosity (morbid though it may be) that makes people want to know about folk like James Dean or Marylin Monroe.
Without the factual end of the Kenny Carter story, there is no story and there is no book.
To my mind, this is a book that was waiting to be written, because it was waiting to be read, by a significant number of people.
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[quote name='DK Rides Again' date='Dec 8 2009, 11:23 PM' post='1653932'Anyway, all this talk of pubs, surely a pie and a cup o' char, on what's left of the terraces, would be more appropriate
I rarely drink at Speedway, because I'm usually driving....but after Speedway, real ale is one of my passions, so forgive me for leading the thread astray a touch!
And you're right....I too would baulk at £3.50 a pint, especially for something like Stella.....
Don't worry 2B (I like your pencils, by the way) I never have a problem talking about beer, except when it's to do with the price of it
The more I think about it, a trip to the frying pan should consist of pies, teas and the watching of 'Once A Jolly Swagman' on a portable DVD player, or would that be too surreal/maudlin?
Lost Sporting Venues Of London
in Years Gone By
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Rather than start another thread, I thought I'd revive this one and mention that I went down Hornshay Street today.
Sad to report (I don't know if the BBC show covered it) that they have now driven a rail link straight through the middle of the frying pan and there is now no trace of New Cross stadium.